Time line

The links to the monasteries are to the Wikipedia sites, but go to the references and then to the Mt. Athos website for more information.

• 963 - The first monastery on Mt. Athos is founded by St. Athanasios.
• 972 - The first charter of the monastic community, the Tragus, is signed by the Emperor John I Tsimiskes and the monks of Mount Athos, officially establishing the coenobitic system alongside the hermitages.
• 979 - The Monastery of the Annunciation (second in seniority), is founded by three monks, Athanasios, Nicholas, and Antonius from Adrianople, pupils of St. Athanasios. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 980 - The monastery of St. George the Painter (ninth in seniority) is founded by Moses, Aaron and John, three monks from Ohrid. The monastery takes its name from an early monk, an artist. From its foundation it has been inhabited by Bulgarian monks. This monastery accepts Orthdox men from Oltenia, Muntenia, and Moldava.
• 982 - The Monastery of Iviron (third in seniority) is founded by St. John from Iberia (Georgia). Although the population has dwindled to 35 monks, the monastery is still populated by Georgian monks.
• 990 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (eighth in seniority) is founded by Blessed Paul, reputedly son of Michael I Rangabe. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and thus gives the monastery its name. The port village of Dafni lies in its territory.
• 993 - The monastery of the Holy Archangels (tenth in seniority) is founded by Bl. Euthymius and dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
• 995 - The Monastery of the Annunciation (twelfth in seniority) is founded by Bl. Philotheus and dedicated to the Annunciation.
• 998 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus (fourteenth in seniority) is founded on the site of the hermitage of Bl. Paul, who had founded the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs.
• 1000 - Upon the death of St. Athanasios, his monastery is renamed St. Athanasios.
• 1002 - Upon the death of St. John, his monastery is renamed St. John the Iberian
• 1014 - The Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul (eleventh in seniority) is founded by a monk named Karakalas. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul and thus gives the monastery its name. The monastery is soon deserted.
• 1022 - The Stavronikita Monastery (fifteenth in seniority), the smallest of the twenty monasteries, is founded by Nicetas, an officer of Emperor John I.
• 1031 - On the 600th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus, the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, is named the patron and protector of the Holy Mountain.
• 1045 - Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus signs the second Typikon, in which Athos is officially termed as The Holy Mountain.
• 1076 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs is turned over to monks of the Armenian Orthodox Church, the first instance of a Greek monastery being turned over to non-Greek monks. This monastery also accepts Orthodox men from Azerbaijan.
• 1169 - The Monastery of the Holy Cross (sixth in seniority) is founded by an unknown person. There is a later re-foundation by Koutloumous, a Seljuk convert in the 14th century. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the the Holy Cross and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1178 - The monastery of Chilandar (fourth in seniority) is founded by St. Sava for Serbian monks. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and thus gives the monastery its name. This monastery accepts Orthodox men from Bohemia, Slevania, Hungary, Croatia, Dalmatia, Sanjak, Albania, and Xliponia.
• 1183 - The Monastery of St. Nicholas is deserted because of pirate raids.
• 1257 - The Monastery of New Bethlehem (thirteenth in seniority) is founded, so named by its founder, Bl. Simon the Myrrhobletes.
• 1292 - The Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is restored with the help of Emperor Andronicus II and Patriarch Athanasius I.
• 1307-9 - Raids by Frankish and Catalan pirates.
• 1350 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus is deserted.
• 1358 - The Monastery of the Transfiguration (seventh in seniority) is founded by the brothers Alexy Stratopedarch and John Primikerij, officials of the Byzantine court. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Transfiguration of Jesus and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1379 - The Monastery of St. John the Baptist (fifth in seniority) is founded by Blessed Dionysios. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and thus gives the monastery its name.
• 1388 - The Monastery of the Presentation of Jesus is restored by the Serbian monks Gerasimus Radona and Antonios Pegases.
• 1440 - Because of pirate raids, the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is again deserted.
• 1533 - The abandoned Stavronikita Monastery is sold to Gregorious Giremeriatis, a Thesprotian abbot.
• 1538 - The abbot Gregorios settles at the Stavronikita Monastery, dying in 1540.
• 1541 - The Ecumenical Patriach Jeremias I reinstates the status of the Stavronikita Monastery as a monastery, the last of the present twenty to be so designated. In this year the katholikon is built and dedicated to St. Nicholas, from which the monastery takes its present name.
• 1544 - With the help of Prince John Peter of Wallachia (who later became a monk in the monastery) and the permission of Sultan Suleiman, the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul is restored.
• 1601 - The katholikon of the Monastery of New Bethlehem is built and dedicated to the Nativity of Jesus and thus gives the monastery its new name.
• 1678 - The Monastery of New Bethlehem is deserted because of heavy Turkish taxation.
• 1794 - Ioasaph of Mytilene arrives and begins the restoration of the Monastery of the Nativity.
• 1821-1830 - The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs is occupied by Turkish troops.
• 1891 - The katholikon of the Monastery of the Nativity is destroyed by fire and rebuilt in its present form.
• St. Xenophon
• St. Gregory
• Ascension
• St. Panteleimon Russian
• St. Stephen
• 1970 - The Lowland and the Isles are hooked to the power grid of the Hellenic Republic. The monasteries are required to install solar panels.